Richard Dawkins, 1976
Preface 1976
Dawkins says that three imaginary readers helped him write this book.
A General Reader, the layman, helped him avoid technical jargon and to try
to express complicated ideas in non-mathematical language without losing
their essence. The Expert was a harsh critic who wanted to point out
exceptions to everything. His criticisms did lead to a complete rewrite of
one chapter. The third reader, the student, seems to be the real target of
the book. Dawkins hopes that student will be more inclined to pursue a
career in zoology, not because animals are likeable, but because
"we animals are the most complicated
and
perfectly-designed pieces of machinery in the known universe".
Preface 1989
Chapter 1. Why Are People?
Chapter 2. The Replicators
Chapter 3. Immortal Coils
Chapter 4. The Gene Machine
Chapter 5. Aggression: Stability and the Selfish Machine
Chapter 6. Genesmanship
Chapter 7. Family Planning
Chapter 8. Battle of the Generations
Chapter 9. Battle of the Sexes
Chapter 10. You Scratch My Back, I'll Ride on Yours
Chapter 11. Memes: the New Replicators
Dawkins believes that the science discussed here is
stranger than fiction
.
The Extended Phenotype
was published in 1982, between the first
edition and this second edition of The Selfish Gene.
In The Extended Phenotype, the Necker cube was presented as a metaphor
for the two ways of looking at evolution, either from the point of view of
the organism or from that of the gene. At the time of this edition, Dawkins
says that the metaphor was too cautious. It implies that the two views are
equally valid. Rather, the view from the gene offers a new climate of thinking,
[ in which many exciting and testable theories are born, and unimagined facts
laid bare ].
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